BTS’ Jungkook joins Global Citizen Festival lineup

BTS’ Jungkook joins Global Citizen Festival lineup
BTS’ Jungkook joins Global Citizen Festival lineup
BIGHIT Music

The already star-studded Global Citizen Festival lineup has expanded: BTS member Jungkook has joined the bill.

The “Seven” singer will join Megan Thee Stallion, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anitta, Conan Gray, Sofia Carson, Stray Kids and Ms. Lauryn Hill at the event, which takes place in New York City’s Central Park on September 23. The free festival will be broadcast live on ABC and streamed globally.

This will be Jungkook’s first solo performance at a music festival; he and the rest of BTS played the 24-hour worldwide Global Citizen Live event in 2021.

People quotes Jungkook as saying in a press release, “I’m so thrilled to join this year’s Global Citizen Festival as a headliner! The festival sheds light on important causes and drives action and I’m happy to take part in it. I can’t wait to perform in front of many people at the Great Lawn in Central Park.”

You can earn free tickets to attend the festival by taking action to contribute toward the event’s continuing goal of ending extreme poverty and the factors that contribute to it, including climate change, gender inequity and the global hunger crisis. For more info, visit GlobalCitizen.org.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

GloRilla named MTV’s September PUSH artist; talks growing up in Memphis, lyric writing and more

GloRilla named MTV’s September PUSH artist; talks growing up in Memphis, lyric writing and more
GloRilla named MTV’s September PUSH artist; talks growing up in Memphis, lyric writing and more
MTV

MTV announced rising rap superstar GloRilla as the September PUSH artist, which recognizes breakout stars by sharing exclusive performances, interviews and personalized content. 

GloRilla’s chat gave way to both music and personal life details, like how she comes up with her catchy lyrics and what it was like growing up in Memphis, Tennessee. 

“When I was a little child in school, I always wanted to be an actress, like I loved Meagan GoodTaraji [P. Henson], Lauren London,” she said. “I was homeschooled, and when I got into school, I was quiet at first. By the time I got to sixth grade I was outspoken, like I had like I came out of my shell and ever since then, I was always an outspoken child.”

The rapper’s bold personality assisted in creating the viral hit “FNF (Let’s Go),” ultimately propelling her to a record deal and mainstream success. She said she sticks to the same process when writing lyrics today as she did before she “blew up.”

“When I go into the studio, and I listen to beats, it be cool, but it’s like for some reason I get writer’s block and I can’t think so I write better when I listen to the beats, when I’m just sitting on the balcony or riding around in a car. I listen to the beats and the lyrics come to me faster,” she said.

The 24-year-old rapper said she’s “honored” to be named the PUSH artist, and with the opportunity, she plans to give her “GloRidaz” a closer look into her career journey. 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Reneé Rapp reveals traumatic experience behind her song “Snow Angel”: “I was drugged”

Reneé Rapp reveals traumatic experience behind her song “Snow Angel”: “I was drugged”
Reneé Rapp reveals traumatic experience behind her song “Snow Angel”: “I was drugged”
Victoria Sirakova/Getty Images

Reneé Rapp is opening up about the deeply personal story behind her song “Snow Angel,” featured on her debut album of the same name.

During an appearance on Jay Shetty‘s podcast, On PurposeReneé disclosed a harrowing experience she endured in 2022. She described attending a party with a new group of friends she had been cautioned about.

“I was drugged, and I had just been missing for seven hours,” Reneé recounted. She described how she’d let her guard down, and ultimately woke up alone in a hotel bathroom stall, with blood on her pants, at 5 a.m. 

Though initially struggling to process the incident, Reneé channeled her feelings about it into music with the help of co-writer Alexander Glantz.

“We started writing it, and it was just the two of us. And the entire time I was writing it, I felt nothing,” Reneé said. “Until we recorded the song and the whole thing was done and I played it for my friends and my manager and everybody was like, ‘This is insane.’ But for me, that whole year of my life was inherent resilience.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Loverboy’s Mike Reno wants to be stranded on an island with albums by Led Zeppelin, Elton John & more

Loverboy’s Mike Reno wants to be stranded on an island with albums by Led Zeppelin, Elton John & more
Loverboy’s Mike Reno wants to be stranded on an island with albums by Led Zeppelin, Elton John & more
Scott Legato/Getty Images

Most music fans have albums they simply can’t live without, and Mike Reno is no exception. In an interview with AXS TV, the Loverboy frontman reveals the five albums he’d want with him if he was stranded on a deserted island.

Topping the list is 1969’s Led Zeppelin, with Reno saying the band’s debut album “changed everything” for him. He called it “the best thing I’d heard in many years.”

Next on his list is Chicago’s 1971 release, Chicago Live at Carnegie Hall, sharing that he loved the double album so much, “I played them until I had to buy a second copy.” That was followed by Styx’s 1976 release, Crystal Ball, with Reno noting he wasn’t into Styx until Tommy Shaw joined the band. “That took it over the edge for me.”

Coming in at four is Steely Dan’s 1972 album, Can’t Buy A Thrill, with Reno saying it’s an album he “always has to listen to, even to this day.” Elton John’s 1973 classic Goodbye Yellow Brick Road rounds out the top five.

“It was a time in my youth that was one of the happiest times in my life,” Reno says of listening to Elton’s album. “To this day, when I hear Yellow Brick Road, the song in particular, I just go right back to the place I grew up when I was a youngster, about 17, and it takes me right back to the beginning and I loved it.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Here’s a hint on when Halle Bailey’s upcoming EP will drop

Here’s a hint on when Halle Bailey’s upcoming EP will drop
Here’s a hint on when Halle Bailey’s upcoming EP will drop
ABC/Eric McCandless

It may be well known that Halle Bailey is gearing up to release her solo debut EP soon; what hasn’t been solidified is when that’ll actually happen. 

The date is still private information, but the singer did drop a hint on when fans can expect new music: “Definitely before the end of the year.”

She provided the update in a recent Cosmopolitan cover story, where she also delved into the different life changes that inspired the album’s music. 

“This has been a really beautiful transformative time for me,” Halle said. “I have all this new material to write about. It’s like, ‘What the heck did I just experience and go through?'”

Halle, reflecting on the success of Disney’s The Little Mermaid live-action remake and the newness of her relationship with rapper DDG, said she was “very creatively inspired.”

“Then from there, I fell in love,” she added.

And those are the themes weaved into her new music, she said.

“Sound-wise, it’s a little modern R&B-ish, with all the jazz elements and hints of pop that I love.”

When asked who her target audience is, Halle said, “My music is definitely for the young girl who doesn’t know herself completely yet, who’s growing every day and learning about who she is and about her power.”

She added, “It’s an emotional, vulnerable kind of music. It’s also a love letter to myself and my younger self and my future self.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Report: Joe Jonas files for divorce from wife Sophie Turner

Report: Joe Jonas files for divorce from wife Sophie Turner
Report: Joe Jonas files for divorce from wife Sophie Turner
Joe and Sophie in April 2023; Ricky Vigil M / Justin E Palmer/GC Images

After several days of rumors, People magazine has confirmed that Joe Jonas has filed for divorce from his wife of four years, Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner.

Joe, 34, filed for a dissolution of marriage on Tuesday, September 5 in Miami, according to documents obtained by People. In the filing, Joe claims “the marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.” The couple does have a prenup, according to the filing.

Joe and Sophie, 27, wed in 2019 after dating for three years. They have two children: Willa, 3, and a 14-month-old daughter who is identified in the divorce documents as D.

Several days ago, People reported that Joe had retained a divorce lawyer, but he continued to wear his wedding band, most recently in a photo he seemed to have pointedly posted on Instagram on September 4 after the divorce reports began.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Joe Jonas files for divorce from wife Sophie Turner

Report: Joe Jonas files for divorce from wife Sophie Turner
Report: Joe Jonas files for divorce from wife Sophie Turner
Joe and Sophie in April 2023; Ricky Vigil M / Justin E Palmer/GC Images

Joe Jonas has filed for divorce from his wife of four years, Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner.

Joe, 34, filed for a dissolution of marriage on Tuesday, September 5 in Miami, according to documents obtained by People. In the filing, Joe claims “the marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.” The couple does have a prenup, according to the filing.

Joe and Sophie, 27, wed in 2019 after dating for three years. They have two children: Willa, 3, and a 14-month-old daughter who is identified in the divorce documents as D.

Several days ago, People reported that Joe had retained a divorce lawyer, but he continued to wear his wedding band, most recently in a photo he seemed to have pointedly posted on Instagram on September 4 after the divorce reports began.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Royal Blood performing during BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Month

Royal Blood performing during BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Month
Royal Blood performing during BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Month
Luke Brennan/Getty Images

Royal Blood is set to perform on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge Month, running October 2-26.

The annual series features artists playing an original song and a cover. Past Royal Blood Live Lounge appearances have seen Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher put their spin on The Knack‘s “My Sharona” and The Police‘s “Roxanne.”

You can watch Royal Blood’s 2023 Live Lounge Month set on October 11. Other artists on this year’s lineup include Yungblud, Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat and Usher.

Royal Blood released their new album, Back to the Water Below, last Friday, September 1. It’s currently on track to debut at #1 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, which would give the duo their fourth straight #1 record in their home country.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ariana Grande appreciates Miley Cyrus’ “Used To Be Young” throwback video: “Love you always”

Ariana Grande appreciates Miley Cyrus’ “Used To Be Young” throwback video: “Love you always”
Ariana Grande appreciates Miley Cyrus’ “Used To Be Young” throwback video: “Love you always”
Kevin Mazur/One Love Manchester/Getty Images for One Love Manchester

Miley Cyrus has been using her “Used To Be Young” TikTok series to revisit different moments in her career.  In a post on September 5, she reminisced about that time in 2015 when she and Ariana Grande duetted on the Crowded House song “Don’t Dream It’s Over” to benefit Miley’s Happy Hippie charity foundation. And it seems Ariana also has fond memories of that moment.

In her TikTok, Miley pulls up the performance — for which both women wore animal onesies — on her iPad. “I was flirting with her,” Miley says of Ariana. “And she’s a little scared. We were having fun!”

In the original video, Miley tells Ariana how cute she looks in her onesie, which causes the two to miss their musical cue. “Sorry, I was flirting,” Miley says.

“Ariana’s a real friend,” Miley continues in the TikTok. “There’s never been a time where I’ve asked her to do something that was important to me that she didn’t come through. And same thing for me with her.”

Ariana posted Miley’s TikTok on her Instagram Story and commented, “My sweet. Love you always. We#UsedToBeYoung!”

Two years after that performance of “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” Miley joined Ariana to sing it again at Ari’s One Love Manchester benefit concert. The star-studded show raised money for the victims and families affected by the terrorist bombing at Ari’s 2017 show at Manchester Arena.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Megadeth’s Kiko Loureiro drops off upcoming tour to be with family

Megadeth’s Kiko Loureiro drops off upcoming tour to be with family
Megadeth’s Kiko Loureiro drops off upcoming tour to be with family
Elsie Roymans/Getty Images

Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro won’t be joining the band on the road for their upcoming tour so that he can spend time with his family.

In a statement posted to Megadeth’s Facebook, Loureiro writes, “I have something that is difficult to share, but we always like to keep you informed with the truth.”

He continues, “I have to leave the tour for now, to be home with my children, and to help them face the difficult challenges that arise from us being ‘Dads that work away from home.'”

The tour begins Wednesday, September 6, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Finnish guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari will fill in for Loureiro.

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